Week 13 Lecture Chinese Contributions 01 Chinese Agricultural

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Montclair State University Department of Anthropology

Anth 140: Non Western Contributions to the Western World

Dr. Richard W. Franke

Week 13 Lecture

Chinese Contributions 01

Chinese Agricultural, Engineering, Household

Technology and Industrial Contributions

This lecture was last updated 25 November, 2013

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The Week 13 Lecture goes go with:

VIDEO: Rise of the Dragon: The Genius That Was China [#2282, Part 1]

READING: Temple, Introduction and Parts 1, 3 and 4; pages 6–13, 15–27, 41–73 and 75–121

Note: if your page numbers are different, go by the “Parts.” Read

all of Parts 1, 3 and 4 plus the Introduction.

This slide was updated 25 Nov 2013

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Chinese Agricultural, Engineering, Household Technology and Industrial Contributions

The learning objectives for week 13 are:

– to know a few basic facts about China and Chinese history – to recognize the recent history of anti-Chinese stereotypes in the West – to appreciate several Chinese inventions including the iron plow, the

double-acting piston pump, cast iron, steel, porcelain, matches, brandy (distilled liquors) and playing cards.

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West and Non West Terms you should know for week 01 are:

– Confucius – Han – “model minority” – Song Dynasty – Cast Iron – Porcelain

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Sources: Feldstein, Stanley, ed. 1972. The Poisoned Tongue: A Documentary History of American Racism

and Prejudice. New York: William Morrow and Co. Inc. Page 110. Needham, Joseph. 1982. Science in Traditional China: A Comparative Perspective. Cambridge,

Mass.: Harvard University Press. Temple, Robert. 2002. The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention.

London: Prion. Williams, Trevor I. 1960. A Short History of Technology from the Earliest Times to A. D. 1900.

Oxford: Oxford University Press. Esp. p. 57.

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1. Where is China?

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2. China is one of the 4 largest nations on earth and has the world’s largest population at 1.3 billion in 2011.

3. China has 19.2% of the

world’s entire population. Source and update: click here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

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5. China is ethnically and linguistically diverse with 55 recognized minority cultures.

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6. 92% of Chinese are from the “Han” group.

7. In recent years China has been much in the news because of its spectacular economic growth.

8. 10.7% estimated for 2006 – possibly more than 5 times the US rate and in 2011 9.8%

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Billing/Analytics.aspx?Source=RankButtonInChart

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9. China may have the world’s largest foreign reserve ownership – at 3.2 trillion US dollars

10. About $339 billion of this is Chinese ownership of

US companies.

http://www.chinability.com/Reserves.htm

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11. Along with India, China’s growing economic, political

and military power has led some observers to predict that these two nations will increasingly determine the future of the entire world economy as the US and other advanced countries decline in relative strength.

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2013 Update

11b. China – and to a lesser extent India –

are now experiencing the equivalent of the

earlier European industrial revolution – but

at 1,000 times the speed and impact.

Source: Gardner, Gary. 2013. Conserving Nonrenewable Resources. Chapter 9 in State of the World 2013: Is

Sustainability Still Possible? Washington D.C.: Island Press. Pages 99-109. Slide data from page 100.

This slide was added 19 April, 2013

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2013 Update

11c. China’s $8.4 trillion economy in 2012

was by far the largest in Asia, with Japan

second at $5.5 trillion and India third at $1.8

trillion. By contrast, China’s population at 1.4

billion is barely greater than India’s at 1.3

billion people.

This slide was added 17 April, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/08/business/global/asia-map.html?_r=0

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12. Whatever the future might hold, China has a longer history of scientific and technological innovations than does the Western world.

13. Indeed, many of the West’s most important

achievements originated in China.

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14. British biochemist turned China historian Joseph Needham lists the famous four as: – The compass – Gunpowder – Paper – Printing

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15. We shall consider several major Chinese contributions to the Western world in this set of slides.

16. But first let us note two important facts about China

and Chinese history –

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– 16.1 Western attitudes towards China have previously been

as racist and condescending as they were towards Africans

– 16.2 Chinese culture – while ancient – is not as old as Egypt and indeed may have been influenced by both Egypt and ancient Sumer

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 17. Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants in 19th

century America were usually lumped together as “Chinese.”

18. Congress passed a special “Chinese Exclusion Act” in 1882 and made a “gentleman’s agreement” with Japan in 1908.

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 19. 19th century attitudes included the “mongol mind”

theory that Chinese were incapable of abstract thinking, but that “children are taught…by material emblems…they have no history…” etc.

Source: Feldstein, Stanley, ed. 1972. The Poisoned Tongue: A Documentary History of American Racism and

Prejudice. New York: William Morrow and Co. Inc. Page 110.

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 20. Other stereotypes: the “Asian mind” as

– Mysterious and “inscrutable” – Obsessed with “saving face” – Violent and lacking concern for human life – used a lot

during both Korean and Vietnam wars – Hapless victims and prostitutes (the Suzie Wong stereotype)

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 21. And – ironically perhaps – the more recent “model

minority” image of – The Asian-American math whiz and – Violin virtuoso

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 22. Behind all the stereotypes has been a lingering

Western fear of what was sometimes called “the yellow peril,” a phrase that could refer to – Any or all of the previous stereotypes plus – The idea of Chinese masses overwhelming other groups

because of their large numbers

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Anti-Chinese Stereotypes 23. Anti-Asian stereotypes have greatly diminished in

the last several decades and a new Western interest in China and its history has developed as well

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Ancient Chinese History 24. Much of the renewed interest in China has revolved

around ancient Chinese history. 25. And interest in the science and technology of China

received a boost from the work of British biochemist turned science historian Joseph Needham.

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Ancient Chinese History 26. Let’s look at a few basic facts about China’s ancient

history.

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Ancient Chinese History

27. The earliest recorded central government in China is the Shang dynasty – founded in 1766 BC

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28.This is about the time of: – The late part of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom – The historical Abraham of the Bible – Hammurabi of Babylon – first known written code of laws

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Ancient Chinese History 29. In other words, Chinese civilization is much older

than Europe’s but much more recent than in Egypt and Mesopotamia

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Ancient Chinese History 30. The philosopher Confucius was

probably ancient China’s most important thinker – 551–479 BC

– Theory of benevolent bureaucracy – Emperor has “mandate of heaven” – Same time as Buddha [563–483]

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31. Qin Dynasty – 221–206 BC

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Ancient Chinese History 32. During Qin Dynasty

– Chinese writing system standardized – Weights and measures – Great wall begun

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33. The Great Wall of China is a tech-nological and engineering marvel

…but…

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34. …It ultimately failed to protect the Han population from attacks by nomads including the Mongols

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35. From 202 BC to 220 AD

China experienced the Han Dynasty during which China became a powerful empire

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Ancient Chinese History 35a. The Han Dynasty corresponds approximately with

the Roman Empire and the two were often trading partners.

35b. They occasionally exchanged diplomatic missions.

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Ancient Chinese History 36. During the Han Dynasty in 111 BC China conquered

and ruled Vietnam as a Chinese province for more than 1,000 years until 939 AD when the Vietnamese won their independence.

37. Vietnam was then called “Annam,” or “pacified south”

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38. The Tang Dynasty (also called “zhou dynasty”) ran from 618 AD to 907 AD

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Ancient Chinese History 39. The Tang Dynasty witnessed many important

Chinese inventions that we shall note soon.

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Ancient Chinese History 40. From 960 to 1279 AD was the Song (or “Sung”)

Dynasty in which many important Chinese inventions were made or further developed.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 41. One important area of Chinese innovation was

agriculture.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 42. The Chinese invented

– Row cultivation 6th century BC

– Intensive hoeing 6th century BC

– Rotary winnowing fan 2nd century BC (Han Dynasty)

– Multitube seed drill 2nd century BC (Han Dynasty)

– Iron plow 6th century BC

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 43. Let’s consider the plow with seed drill and adjustable

blade 44. The Sumerians (ancient Iraq) may have invented the

first plows around 4,000 BC.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 45. The earliest plows were pointed sticks probably

harnessed to humans, then later on to oxen. 46. Around 3,000 BC the Egyptians added a triangular

shaped stone plowshare (or blade) that cut the soil more effectively.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 47. The plow is thought to be crucial to the large-scale

production of food and therefore is part of the farming basis of the industrial revolution in Europe.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 48. European plows were little advanced over their

ancient Egyptian ancestors until about the 17th century when Dutch sailors brought Chinese plows back to Holland. (The moldboard seems to have been adopted in Europe by the 14th century in some places.)

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 49. The Chinese plow, developed around the 6th Century

BC, revolutionized agricultural production in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.

50. European and American inventors – including John Deere – made significant improvements on the Chinese plow once it had been imported to the West.

Sources: Temple, Robert. 1998. The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention. London: Prion Books Limited. Esp. pages 15–27; Derry, T. K. and Williams, Trevor I. 1960. A Short

History of Technology from the Earliest Times to A. D. 1900. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Esp. p. 57.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 51. The Chinese plow had five major innovations:

– 51.1 An iron plowshare or blade (9)

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 51.2 Adjustable depth of the plowshare (4). This made the plow

adaptable to various soil and moisture conditions.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 51.3 A moldboard that turned the soil after it was cut by the blade – this mixed the

different levels of soil and also facilitated oxygen absorption by the soil (8). The moldboard also turned the plowed soil away from the plow thus significantly easing the work since the soil did not pile up on the blade.

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions 51.4 A seed drill (2nd century BC) that (not shown)

facilitated planting in straight rows which used fewer seeds and spaced them for optimal harvest output.

51.5 A harness that did not choke the animal pulling the plow

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Chinese Agricultural Inventions

52. The ancient plow remains in use today in China

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 53. Cast Iron The Chinese produced this superior quality metal as

early as the 4th century BC. It was known in Europe only by the 8th century AD. Cast iron requires the addition of up to 6% phosphorus which reduces the melting point of the iron from 1130 to 950 Centigrade.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions

54. The widespread availability of cast iron in ancient China led to the development of the iron plow – described earlier – iron hoes, and knives, axes, chisels, and saws.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 55. Thin, lightweight cooking pots, lighter and longer

swords, and large building structures were all made possible by cast iron. In the 3rd century BC, the Chinese discovered the process of "annealing" -- holding cast iron at a high temperature for a week or more. This made the iron far stronger. It was nearly the quality of steel.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 56. Steel Henry Bessemer, official inventor of the steel making

process in 1856 had learned it in part from William Kelly. Kelly had brought 4 Chinese steel experts to Eddyville Kentucky in 1845. They taught him the Chinese steel process that was by then over 2,000 years old.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 57. The first important development in steel making is to

expel some of the 4-5% carbon content of cast iron. Chinese metallurgists accomplished this in 120 BC by blowing oxygen onto the cast iron.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 58. The second important development is to fine-tune

the amount of carbon so that it is just in between wrought iron and cast iron. In the 5th century AD Chinese metallurgists developed the "co-fusion" process to accomplish this. Co-fusion is the technique used by Martin and Siemens in 1863 to make industrial steel in the West.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 59. The Double-Action Piston Bellows

– Chinese metal working and the Chinese chemical industry (see next week) were both facilitated by their ability to maintain high and steady temperature fires.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 60. This was largely facilitated by the double-action

piston bellows. 61. The Egyptians may have invented the first single-

action pumps around 2,500 BC.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 62. The single-action pump leaves gaps in pushing air

over a fire because no air is pushed while the piston is being pulled back for the next stroke.

63. This limits the amount of high even heat the bellows can provide to the fire.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 64. By inventing the double-action piston bellows, the

Chinese achieved very high and even temperatures making possible their great advances in metallurgy.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 65. Double-action bellows were also used in baking and

may have been used in the manufacture of medicines. 66. The double-action piston bellows was invented in

China by at least the 4th Century BC.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions

67. This technology became known in Europe from contacts with China only by the 16th Century.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 68. Or, China was about 2,000 years ahead of Europe

in developing a practical technology based on pistons, vacuums, and valves.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 69. The piston is being pulled out to the right, compressing the air in the

right-hand chamber and forcing it out of the nozzle at the bottom.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 70. When the piston is pushed back to the left, air is compressed in the left-

hand chamber and forced from the nozzle once more.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 71. The feathers lubricate the movement of the piston while sealing off the

air around its edges.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 72. The nozzle has a valve like a swinging door. It can open in either

direction in response to the air flow.

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Chinese Industrial Contributions 73. The double-action piston bellows anticipates the properties of the internal

combustion engine. Do you see how?

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 74. Matches

– Invented by a Chinese woman around 577 AD

– Appeared in Europe by 1530 AD

– Sulfur tips burst into flame when struck across a hard surface

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 75. The umbrella

– Name is Italian for “little shadow” – Invented in China in 4th century AD

– First oiled paper then silk – May have first been used as sun parasols rather than for

rain

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions

76. Porcelain A type of pottery first

made in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). It may even have begun in the Han Dynasty around 200 AD.

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77. Porcelain is shaped on a potter's wheel or in a mold, then painted, glazed and fired in a kiln at a high temperature.

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Porcelain 78. It became known in the

West as "China," still a name used for the finest tableware. The secrets of porcelain are the use of a pure clay known as kaolin, and the ability to fire it at temperatures as high as 1280 Centigrade.

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79. Today porcelain is in great

demand for all kinds of kitchen and bathroom appliances.

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Porcelain 80. It does not scratch or mar

easily and because the surface lacks pores, it is highly resistant to the accumulation of bacteria.

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81. Silk As early as 3,000 BC

Chinese farmers invented the process of making silk thread from the cocoon of the silkworm.

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Silk 82. The shimmering

appearance for which silk is prized comes from the fibers' triangular prism-like structure which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles.

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Silk 83. The oldest known silk comes from an Egyptian

mummy in 1070 BC, indicating that Chinese silk had become an item of ancient international commerce.

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Silk 84. Silk production is a

complex industry involving the silkworms, mulberry bushes for the worms to eat the leaves off, and silk producing baskets where the worms are effectively domesticated.

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Silk 85. Silk production is called

“sericulture.”

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Silk 86. Silk production requires

manufacturing the thread, spinning it, dyeing and weaving

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Silk 87. In 553 AD Byzantine monks managed to steal

silkworm technology from China, weakening its monopoly on the silk trade.

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Silk 88. Eventually major silk industries developed in

– India – Thailand – France – Ireland

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Silk 89. The modern silk industry is associated with an

elaborate vocabulary of specialized weaves and textures – Brocade, chiffon – Charmeuse, doupiono, noil, faille – Etc.

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 90. Along with its beauty, silk is a very practical product,

lightweight, strong, and providing good insulation or breathability as required.

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91. Paper – In 105 AD, Cai Lun invented

modern paper, by cooking hemp, bamboo or flax until they became a sticky paste.

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92. He then spread the

mixture into rectangular molds. When the sheets were dry…

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93. …the paper was used for

writing, fans, kites, screens, and by the 7th century, for paper money – itself a Chinese invention.

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 94. Brandy The English word "brandy" comes from the Dutch word

"brandewijn." The Dutch word means literally "burnt wine." It is apparently a literal translation of the Chinese shao chi, which means, "burnt wine."

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 95. Brandy is wine that has been distilled – much of the

water crystals frozen and/or burnt out. The distillation process was probably discovered by Central Asian peoples who noticed that small amounts of wine in the center of a container would not freeze even at the coldest temperatures.

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 96. Chinese scientists in the 7th century AD developed

the first stills, in which wine was burnt to separate or distill out the most alcoholic concentrates. – Our word "alcohol" comes from Arabic.

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 97. Beer and wine – alcoholic drinks that are only

fermented and not distilled – probably originated in ancient Egypt or ancient Sumer.

98. Distilled drinks have 35% or more alcohol content whereas fermented drinks are below 15%.

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Chinese Household Technology Contributions 99. Chess

– This game came to the West from India and Persia about 600 AD. The word "checkmate" probably comes from the Persian "shah maat," which means "the king is dead." Chess has been traced to China as early as the 6th century BC.

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100. Playing cards

– Marco Polo may have brought cards on his return from China in 1295 AD

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101. Cards were invented in China in the 9th century

102. They became popular almost immediately

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103. Chinese cards innovated the four suits that now characterize the typical European and North American decks or sets of cards.

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104. 2013 Update:

Maybe – Skis and

Skiing

Still debated but see the

December 2013 National

Geographic for update:

Source: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/first-

skiers/jenkins-text

This slide was update 19 November 2013

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/first-skiers/jenkins-text





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End of Week 13 Lecture

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Week 13 Lecture Chinese Contributions 01 Chinese Agricultural